Kathleen Parker

In sum, Obama doesn't think much of Trump , or of Trump's Republican critics. Neither does he think much of GOP leaders and wannabe presidents, whose apocalyptic rhetoric has reduced political debate to a crypto-Armageddon-ish clash of cliches.

Donald Trump can't help himself. Nor can we. The "worse" he gets, it seems, the better we like it. Watching Trump is so deliciously awful, we don't hang on every word. We hang on the edge of our seats waiting for the next word. Whatever will this man say next?

In South Carolina these days, no one speaks his name. The 21-year-old man-boy, who allegedly murdered nine people and incited unity instead of the race war he hoped for, has been condemned to an eternal slog not toward fame but to ignominy.

To be a show-off was to signal to the world that you were so lacking in character or talent that you had to attract attention some other way. Enter Trump, though he does apparently have a talent for making money.